Friday, August 6, 2010

whats going on

Elliot had had plenty of time to practice in this baby. Well, he was calling it that, now. The bus. His home away from home. He thought he could handle it, but now he was hauling ass down the interstate.

"My God, look all these trucks." He stared over the horizon. Thankfully he'd made it out of Council Bluff and felt as if he were driving into the eye of the storm. There were clouds brewing. It looked like hail, possibly.

Shit, he felt himself say on the inside, but he put his words into a prayer. Didn't know he'd be saying the Lord's prayer right now, but he was. This was gonna be scary.

"Did you listen for a weather report, honey." He yelped back at Amanda who he then figured out was already asleep in the back.

"Unbelievable." He fumed. She was no help. They hadn't been all of an hour on the road, and she was already asleep. Granted, it was early. A very pre-dawn start.

Naturally, Roger was playing around on his iPod touch. The great state of Iowa had handy WFI everywhere.

"Did you by chance-" Elliot just shuttered. Roger was listening to tunes and was a bigger kid than Derrick.

"Derrick? Derrick, see if you can pick up a weather report for me on the weather radio." Derrick was at least reading a graphic novel. Of course, it was overdue from the library which Elliot would not bring up. He had told him earlier this week that everything had to go back to the library. There were no books from the library to be on this bus. And there he was with one.

Elliot nursed his upper lip. Why was this so hard? Would Derrick ever listen to him?

"Please!" He begged then.

Derrick went to tune in the radio. The one the interstate said to tune in for weather. Naturally, it wasn't good news. They were in a tornado and thunderstorm warning area.

Elliot's knuckles went white on the steering wheel. He pressed on.

"You won't believe what happened!" Amanda came up from behind him and almost fell on him. Elliot leaned into the wheel trying to concentrate and not think about how she was too close to him. This wasn't the time to do anything crazy. Like see if she could ride in his lap while he drove.

"What?" He kept his eyes on the road, trying to not act nervous.

"It was the worst dream ever!" She was practically standing over him and her red hair fell in his face. He pushed it out of the way to stare into the highway.

"It couldn't be that bad. Really." This was bad, he thought. Driving into the early morning of a bad storm, traveling probably faster than this bus.

"I froze, Elliot. I froze, right on stage. I did!" She was frantic.

"It was just a dream." He was still having to move her locks of hair out his face as she hung on to his shoulders. "Would you sit down before I-I get pulled over!" He finally had to say. "You're making me nervous."

"What if I freeze? What if I freeze, Elliot?" She wouldn't move.

"Well, we have to get there first and-and- would you just sit down!" Elliot's eyes widen. Trucks were going around him like he was standing still. What did they know, that he didn't? "SIT DOWN NOW! This is a moving bus." He gritted then. Of course, he supposed everyone on the road thought differently.